The Hungarian State Opera and the Erkel Theatre are to gain new a art studios and rehearsal centre. Establishing and equipping the new centre as well as preparing the refurbishment of the Opera House in Andrássy Avenue is to be financed by the government up to 14.425 billion HUF, announced Péter Hoppál, State Secretary for Culture and Szilveszter Ókovács, General Director of the Hungarian State Opera.

On 6 February, 2016 the special guest star of the Shakespeare Ball organized by the Hungarian State Opera is Plácido Domingo. One important feature of the ball revived in 2014 is that the greatest figures of the world of opera and ballet are invited to this exclusive event. The appearance of Domingo is extraordinary as it is the first time this significant personality of the classical music scene of the 20th and 21st centuries sings on the stage of the Opera House.

The most prestigious awards were presented to three opera singers, a ballet dancer and a member of the orchestra on 29 June, 2016 on the stage of the Erkel Theatre. The Chamber Singer for the 2015/16 season are Eszter Sümegi, Ildikó Komlósi and István Kovácsházi. Chamber Artist is cellist Endre Balog, the Étoile title was awarded to ballerina Lili Felméry.

The Night of Stars gala is a spectacular show to celebrate the best moments of the past season: the stage is graced by the greatest of the great, as well as the most promising young performers at the Erkel Theatre on 29 June from 7 p.m. The event is screened at St Stephen's Basilica in front of several thousand people in what is one of the summer's top free events. A collection is made by employees of Hungarian Interchurch Aid to assist disaster victims in Hungary. During the gala the recipients of the prestigious Chamber Singer, Etoile and Chamber Artist awards are announced.

The Opera’s ballet company will close both The Month of Dance and the season with The Karamazovs in Boris Eifman’s now-classic choreography. In addition to telling the well-known story in the language of dance, this grand ballet also explores the characters’ swirling minds, their complex relationships with each other and their internal struggles. The production will be staged at the Erkel Theatre from June 20, in a performance by the Hungarian National Ballet.

Similar to 2014 when the Strauss150 Festival crowned our 130th season, the Faust225 Festival aims to present the most concentrated event of this season on the 225th anniversary of the first publication of Goethe’s Faust – A Fragment. Five brilliant pieces built on the topic of Faust can be heard (among them the premiere of Gounod’s opera and the Hungarian premiere of Busoni’s work), with a rarity concert by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra to conclude the series that spans over two weeks featuring world-wide acclaimed Hungarian singers and international guest stars.

Four adventures bearing little resemblance to reality during the Napoleonic Wars, all based on folk
music and presented by an old veteran. Title Character sacrifices career for sweetheart, choosing Örzse
and the provincialism of Nagyabony over the Imperial Palace in Vienna.

Prologue: In the village of Nagyabony, the regulars gather at the inn to hear the aged veteran János Háry tell his stories. The judge, the student and a few farmers sit down to sip wine and listen to the old man's stories, which many of them take with more than one pinch of salt.
Adventure I: Háry stands guard on the Austrian frontier. The Austrian border guard refuses to allow anyone to cross over from the other side, including Marie Louise, the daughter of Emperor Franz, and her retinue – with Baron Ebelasztin among them, as well as the coachman Marci, driver of the imperial coach. Háry, together with the other Hungarians, pushes the guardhouse into Austrian territory.
Adventure II: In Vienna's Burghof, Háry succeeds in taming Lucifer, the most unbreakable steed in the imperial stables. As a reward, Marie Louise gives him a violet. Baron Ebelasztin, stricken with jealousy, exercises the authority given to him by Napoleon to present the Emperor of Austria with a declaration of war.
Adventure III: Hussars are encamped below Milan castle. Napoleon attacks, but his forces fall before a single wave of Háry's sword. Napoleon himself is taken prisoner. Marie Louise arrives: she wants Háry for her husband instead of Napoleon. Örzse appears, and is unwilling to part with her betrothed.
Adventure IV: In the Viennese court, Háry and Marie Louise are getting ready for their wedding. The little princes tell Háry what they've learned in school. The court marches in. Háry doesn't want Marie Louise's hand or a princely title. Instead he wants to return to Nagyabony, the village of his birth, together with Örzse.
Epilogue: in the inn at Nagyabony, Háry reaches the end of his story, which relates how the lovers held a big wedding and lived happily together until poor Örzse passed away. This meant that no witness remained who could verify Háry's tale. But none was needed, either, for “no one on earth is as valiant/as our Uncle Háry was!”